Trump Is Closer Than Any U.S. President to Meeting With N. Korea. Could It Not Happen?

The New York Times reported this week that the U.S. president is beginning to have doubts about a meeting with North Korea.

By NTK Staff | 05.21.2018 @12:00pm

Against all odds, Donald Trump is closer than any U.S. president in history to meeting with a head of state of North Korea. That summit, though – planned for June 12 in Singapore – could now be at risk, and it’s because of the president’s own doubts.

President Trump, increasingly concerned that his summit meeting in Singapore next month with North Korea’s leader could turn into a political embarrassment, has begun pressing his aides and allies about whether he should take the risk of proceeding with a historic meeting that he had leapt into accepting, according to administration and foreign officials.

Mr. Trump was both surprised and angered by a statement issued on Wednesday by the North’s chief nuclear negotiator, who declared that the country would never trade away its nuclear weapons capability in exchange for economic aid, administration officials said. The statement, while a highly familiar tactic by the North, represented a jarring shift in tone after weeks of conciliatory gestures.

‘Mixed signals’ is perhaps the best term to describe the current state of U.S.-North Korea relations. Indeed, the nation and its reclusive leader threatened to cancel the planned summit last week. Kim Jong-un was reportedly upset over planned U.S.-South Korea military exercises (that Kim knew about ahead of time).

Still, the North Korea regime is scheduled to dismantle its major nuclear test site in Punggye-ri this week, from Wednesday through Friday. If they follow through, and if the dismantlement is for more than just show, it’s a gesture of good will to the U.S. and South Korea ahead of the planned summit.

President Trump may want to follow through on the summit despite his doubts, if only because he’s deeply invested in his own poll numbers. A Politico/Morning Consult poll released last week showed rising confidence in Trump on North Korea since plans for the summit were announced.